One of the reasons why Esseplore exceeds customer expectations is because it starts off on the right foot every time. From sourcing and choosing the ingredients, to meal planning and presentation, the packaging and most important of all, preservation. At Esseplore, we manage each step of this curated process with a lot of planning and a strong desire to please the customer. One of the most important processes in this journey to provide tasty, beautiful, and healthy food, is the way we preserve our food. Discovered in 1929, blast freezing has been quite popularized in the food industry and we at Esseplore have been using this process to deliver fresh food at your doorstep for the past few years now with great success.
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Why Blast Freezing?
Blast freezing has become the norm within the food industry because of its amazing benefits. When food is blast frozen, it causes the crystal formation to be smaller, thereby resulting in lesser damage. In fact, the food preserved is of a higher quality. There are certain protocols and standards to be followed while blast freezing food. According to the legal rules by HACCP and Government Food Standards Agency standards, the temperature of the food being frozen must drop from +70C to -18 C in 240 minutes or less. It basically means that the food should be handled immediately. Current food legislation makes it mandatory for all food to be cooled as quickly as possible. So, whenever food is chilled, it can be kept in the danger zone for as little time as possible. That is why it is essential for food companies to possess a blast freezer.
This results in the formation of rice crystals which are much smaller, leaving behind more space for electrolytes and enzymes within the cell. Thus, damage of cell membranes and walls is significantly minimized. Blast freezing is being used in industries for ice-cream, pre-prepared meals, vegetables or fish.
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The Benefits of Blast Freezing
At Esseplore, we understand that the quality and handling of the food are the two most essential things to achieve the highest standards of service. We at Esseplore maintain outstanding commitment to the freshest produce. We freeze the food at exactly the right moment so that it may be stored correctly to be delivered with the highest nutritive quality that is good for your overall health especially your gut health.
Blast freezing offers a health and safety benefit because the process slows down the growth of bacteria. This greatly reduces the risk for customers. The process basically helps in locking in nutrients and preserving taste. It also helps significantly in reducing food waste. We use this method for all our food which includes the keto meals, the dishes designed by Umami Chefs and other balanced meals.
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Waste reduction – Blast freezers reduce waste in two ways. First their reliable temperature control warrants that foods stay at safe temperatures of -18C or below. Secondly freezing at low temperature ensures that food spoilage is kept to a minimum as bacterial development is halted more quickly.
Speed – Blast freezing allows you to cool and freeze larger volumes of food much quicker than using a conventional freezer, saving time and money. Again, the speed in this process halts the spread of bacteria more quickly, resulting in food that is both fresher and safer to eat.
Smaller ice crystals – A by-product of the freezing process is that the formation of ice crystals is much smaller. Thereby influencing the taste, texture, and appearance, often reducing the quality of the food. Blast freezing enables the formation of microcrystals, which has evolved as a practical and popular solution in commercial catering.
Blast freezing works with different food groups:
This process works efficiently with all kinds of food groups and these foods can be safely stored for months. It is perfect for storing raw and cooked meat, fish, and poultry. It works well with fresh fruits and vegetables too. What’s even more amazing is that it is a perfect way to safely store full, ready-cooked meals ahead of time. Esseplore leverages this technological advantage completely to preserve our balanced, healthy meals. This process ensures that all our food that is delivered to you is delicious, nutritious, and fresh.
It basically used two different kinds of chilling to handle a range of foods. Blast chillers have two options: soft chilling and hard chilling.
Most blast chillers are provided with the hard option which produces an air temperature of approximately as low as -20 degrees Celsius, so that the core temperature of food can pass through what is known as the danger zone as fast as possible. Hard chilling is most often used with packaged or large, fatty, or dense food products or ingredients.
Soft chilling provides a temperature between3 degrees Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius to lower the temperature sufficiently. The chiller can reduce the temperature of food and ingredients gently but quickly without causing any damage as it uses the high-powered ventilation system,
Normal freezers are not adequate to preserve the quality of food that is needed for food processing industries. Blast freezers are often used to quickly freeze and protect the integrity of food which cannot be attained when a food is frozen slowly and thawed.
Want to eat nutritious food but got no time to cook don’t worry we got your back! Order from Umami Chefs where we use blast freezing to deliver you yummy nutritious food on your door step.
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